Welcome! Follow me on twitter at @johnrlottjr or at https://crimeresearch.org. Please e-mail questions to johnrlott@crimeresearch.org.

7/28/2010

President Obama skips the Boy Scout Jamboree celebrating the 100th anniversary of Scouting

The president could be on "The View" television show any time he wants, but the Boy Scout Jamboree occurs only once every four years. So what is President Obama to do? Why he decided to skip speaking to the 45,000 Boy Scouts who attend. The White House claims that there were political fundraisers that were really preventing him from speaking to the Boy Scouts, but couldn't someone have set those up on a different day? The Boy Scout Jamboree is set up years in advance. Not everyone is thrilled by him going on "The View."

But Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a fellow Democrat, scoffed at the idea of a president appearing on such a show.

“I think the president should be accessible, should answer questions that aren't pre-screened, but I think there should be a little bit of dignity to the presidency,” Rendell told MSNBC, at one point comparing "The View" to "The Jerry Springer Show."

Presidents who have spoken before a Boy Scout Jamboree.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1934President Harry Truman in 1950future President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1950Kennedy died in office before the eventPresident Lyndon Johnson in 1964Nixon -- NoFord -- No, but there was no Jamboree during his presidency (one in 1973 and another in 1977)Carter -- NoNancy Reagan spoke in place of Ronald Reagan in 1985President George HW Bush in 1989President Bill Clinton in 1998President George W Bush in 2001 via video and 2005 in-person.Obama -- no

OK, firstly, I'm not a devout Obama fan, but I do like to be fair in my commentary. I think the BSA has to take some responsibility for the reaction of heir constituents to President Obama's taped message. Firstly, they were notified two months in advance that he wasn't going to be able to attend the Jamboree, yet they declined to disseminate this information to attendants, who were led to believe that he reneged at the last minute. One Scout leader I know personally, who was in attendance, told me this so I know it was the belief on site at The Jamboree. So, of course they booed him and then turned their backs on him and then didn't applaud. But, you have to acknowledge that 1) they did so under false impressions and 2) the conservative leadership of BSA likely would have tolerated such blatantly disrespectful behavior even if he HAD been in attendance. Right? No one who has achieved the rank of President of our United States should be mocked in such a way... whether we like him and/or is policies or not. Really, what sort of behavior is this for young people who are meant to be learning to demonstrate character? Boo to the Boy Scouts for behavior that is just plain rude. There are other ways to demonstrate one's personal politics... we are becoming a nation of self-centered socially inept barbarians. It's the Boy Scout's responsbility to teach boys to be clean, thrifty, loyal, reverent, and brave or some such... I'm pretty sure turning one's back on and booing at a speech by a sitting President falls in the requisites somewhere...